Three New Ministers Ordained

The recent annual conference
of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of New Zealand, held in
Auckland, was notable for the ordination of 3 outstanding
young ministers, the launch of the Wesleyan Ministry
Institute and the celebration of the inauguration of the
South Pacific Conference of the Wesleyan Methodist Church.
The conference also considered the Redefinition of Marriage
Bill currently before Parliament.

The Celebration and
Ordination service was held on Saturday 10 November at East
City Wesleyan church. Rev Rex Rigby, the first indigenous
Australian to serve as National Superintendent of any
Australian church, was the guest speaker. The newly
ordained ministers represent part of the crop of young,
highly competent ministers that are being nurtured within
the Wesleyan Methodist Church.

Rev Jo McKinnell is the
youngest minister to be ordained in the church. She
currently serves as Youth Pastor to the Papakura Wesleyan
Church and is working amongst the at-risk youth population
of the Redhill suburb.

Rev Clint Ussher is the senior
minister of The Well, a Wesleyan Methodist Church plant in
Christchurch. He reflects the high quality church planters
that are being recruited to the movement. Rev Ussher brings
a rich blend of practical ministry experience and strong
academic preparation, having recently completed his MDiv
from Princeton Seminary.

Rev Frank Ritchie is the
Education and Advocacy Manager for TearFund New Zealand.
His work with TearFund embodies much of the Wesleyan
imperative to ministry with the poor and marginalised
members of our global community. Rev Ritchie worships with
cession|community in Pakuranga, where he leads the Commoners
midweek service – a worship service of contemplation and
prayer.

The Wesleyan Methodist Church’s investment in
ministerial preparation was clearly evident in these
ordinations and further reflected in the launch of the
Wesleyan Ministry Institute (WMI). The WMI will serve as an
umbrella organisation for ministry preparation with the
Wesleyan Methodist Church offering a range of distinctive
subjects for lay and ministerial students and coordinating
educational access to a range of local and international
tertiary providers.

ConneXion 2012 was the first member
national conference to meet within the newly formed South
Pacific Conference of the Wesleyan Methodist Church. The
inaugural President of the conference is Rev Dr Richard
Waugh. The wider mission of the Regional Conference was
reinforced and celebrated with New Zealand accepting a
partnership role with the developing Bougainville church.
Australia and the Solomon Islands are the present members of
the regional Conference with other national churches
predicted to align with the largest regional expression of
Methodism in the Pacific.

The Wesleyan Methodist
Church’s submission to the Select Committee dealing with
the Redefinition of Marriage Bill was received by the
Conference. The conference affirmed its commitment to
marriage in the following terms:

The Wesleyan Methodist
Church’s position on marriage is consistent with the
historic Christian perspective that marriage is expressed in
a monogamous lifelong relationship between one man and one
woman, is a covenant union made in the sight of God and is
part of the divine design for the birth and rearing of
children. It is our conviction that marriage is an
important foundation for our society, part of the natural
order which we see evidenced in the world around us, clearly
established in the Christian scriptures and fully realised
in the teaching of Jesus on marriage.

The conference
also affirmed the church’s commitment to a properly
constituted review of the Marriage law, noting that a
Private Member’s Bill was not a suitable mechanism for
dealing with such an important national issue. The Bill is
seen as being out of step with the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights which continues to view marriage as between a
man and a woman and ultimately failing to secure advantages
for New Zealand society as a whole especially
children.ends

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